Shadowstorm (Sorcery and Science Book 6) (20 page)

“I’ll try,” she agreed. “Though I cannot guarantee it will even work. Your confidence in my abilities is flattering, though perhaps not entirely realistic. I may not be able to even see this foresight. I don’t ever go hunting for foresights; they find me.”

“That’s where Cameron comes in.” Braeden’s gaze shifted to him. “You’re the Elite Prior.”

“Yes,” Cameron said cautiously.

Terra didn’t blame him. The last time Braeden had called him the Elite Prior, he’d drugged him not long afterward.

“Prophets may wait for the foresights to come to them, but Priors go looking for memories,” Braeden said.

“How does that help here?” Terra asked. “You want to look into the future, not the past.”

“Actually, I want you to look into the future to see things in the past of that future.”

Terra mulled that over for a bit, trying to knead some sense out of it. “You want me to look further into the future than the massacre at the Night Rose Order’s camp in order to look back at the massacre like it’s the past?”

“Precisely.”

Cameron rested his hand on his forehead. “Just the idea of that makes my head hurt.”

“I’m not even sure it’s possible,” Terra said.

“It is.” Braeden picked up a box. “Through Synergy.” He flipped back the lid, revealing an assortment of cloth pouches. “You two need to share powers.”

Terra inhaled the scents of citrus, mint, honey, and something nutty.

“Synergy is…”

“A myth?” he finished for her. His lips curled up. “Except it isn’t. Delilah and I have achieved it. Your bond—that between brother and sister—is no less powerful. It will work.”

“The old texts say when two Elites link with Synergy, they will each gain the other’s powers for a time,” Delilah told them.

Braeden handed Terra the box. “Cameron’s powers will tether you. Combining them with yours will give you what you need to accomplish this task.”

“But you’ve never tested this,” she said.

“Until now, we’ve never had two Elites willing to try it. Now we do,” Braeden replied.

Terra looked at Cameron. “What do you think?”

He sniffed one of the pouches in the box. “I think it probably won’t kill us. And if it does, Jason will come here to start his own massacre.”

“This isn’t funny.” She frowned at him, but he’d already busied himself sniffing the next pouch.

“We said we’d do it, and it might be cool. Everything I’ve read about Synergy backs up what they say. Hey, wait a minute.” He set the pouch into the box. “Remember how Silver was talking about our abilities, like the three of us each display some powers of the others? Kind of like secondary powers. Of the three of us, you’re the one who has the strongest secondary powers.”

“They nearly classified me as a Triad.”

“Right. So what if that is connected to Synergy? If Synergy is about bonds, then it would stand to reason that the closer your bond to the other person is, the better Synergy works.” Cameron looked at Braeden. “Right?”

“That has been our experience,” he confirmed. “Delilah and I cannot share abilities, but we can share emotions. The stronger our bond becomes, the more we can feel from the other. It’s become part of us. We don’t even need to share serums anymore.”

“Ok, but you say Elites can share powers in Synergy. Maybe the stronger an Elite’s bond with another Elite is, the more power sharing goes on.” Cameron pointed to Terra, then to himself. “You and I are twins. You can’t get much closer than that. And you and Jason have been friends since you were born basically.”

“You think those bonds to you and Jason are the reason for my extra powers?”

“It sure would explain a lot,” said Cameron.

“And it will make this whole thing easier,” added Braeden. “Cameron is right. You too already have a bond. The Synergy serum will simply allow you to draw on abilities already inside of you.”

Which was exactly what she wanted to do anyway. “What do you know about the Triad serum?” she asked him.

“That it exists. Nothing more. Why?”

“Because I’m trying to make one. And I need a few ingredients.”

“Do this for us, and you can have anything from our supplies that you want,” he promised, extending his hand.

She shook it. “When do we get started?”

“It’s late now,” said Braeden. “Synergy is rewarding, but it’s also taxing. Especially the first few times. You should get some rest. I’ll brew up the serums tonight, and we can start early tomorrow.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

~
Past Future ~

527AX January 13, Night Rose Order

EVEN THOUGH TERRA and Cameron were awake shortly after dawn, it wasn’t until midmorning that Braeden had their serums ready to go. And it was nearly noon before Synergy finally worked.

Terra felt it immediately when it came—that gentle buzz across her body, as though her skin were ablaze with a storm of magical energy. She’d taken serums to enhance her secondary powers before, but this was entirely different. Her power of Prophecy hadn’t been pushed out to make space for something else. Instead, the two abilities—of Prophecy and of Memory—were working together in a single harmonious blend. Flashes of days long since passed fluttered in and out of her mind, intermingling with the foresights. But also calming them.

It wasn’t just the powers. She could also feel Cameron in a way she never had before. His fears, his dreams, his strength, and even more so his control—those things that she’d always known were inside of him but never felt. He was both stronger and more disciplined than Jason gave him credit for.

“You need to tap into Cameron’s power, using it to boost your own,” said Braeden.

The serum had thrown everything into high contrast. The outlines of everything and everyone were sharp and precise, their colors blooming with over-saturation. She saw it all: the tiny cluster of dust on Braeden’s collar, the hair that had strayed from Delilah’s neat braid, every single mint particle swirling around inside of Cameron’s glass. The pure clarity of it all made her eyes burn.

She blinked several times, allowing her tears to soothe the sting and wash away the prickles. It didn’t mute the sharp lines and vibrant colors, but her eyes were already adjusting to the combined glaze of Prophecy and Memory. Thanks to her link with Cameron, the barrage of future moments had settled down to a slow drip.

“Are you ready?” Braeden asked.

A warm stream flowed up Terra’s arm from the hand she’d linked with Cameron’s, filling her with power. “Yes.”

“Look into the future,” said Delilah. “See our camp. See the Avans. The Siennans.” Her breath stuttered. “See the bodies and the blood and the death.”

Terra closed her eyes. Darkness fell. An anguished scream echoed in her ears. Steel clashed against steel. Gunfire roared.

The darkness lifted. She saw Elitions fighting. And Avan soldiers. Bodies poured to the ground like stalks of harvested wheat. Boots tromped through pools of glistening blood. A sword fell. An arm severed. A boot. A belt. A gun. Blood. Horror. Death.

The images were speeding up, flashing past faster than she could focus. Her tongue burned. Her stomach rolled in nauseating waves.

“Terra,” Cameron’s voice said from beyond the screams and bodies piling up all around her.

He appeared at the doorway of one of the cabins, his hands extended toward her. Acid bubbled up and rose in her throat, singeing it with Death’s tattoos. She covered her ears and closed her eyes, but there were a thousand horrors screaming out. And they refused to be silenced. The bodies were up to her knees now. She scrambled over them, skidding and slipping toward Cameron. As she reached out and grabbed his hand, everything faded out. The two of them stood alone in a sea of blackness.

“Braeden thinks if you move past the moment of the attack on the camp, you’ll be able to look back on it with greater clarity using Memory,” Cameron reminded her.

“I know. It’s just hard to move past…all that.”

He set his hands on her shoulders. “Then we’ll do it together.”

“Ok.”

She lifted her hands, hooking them over his arms. Then she closed her eyes and reached forward in time. She rushed past the massacre at the Night Rose Order camp but followed that pulsing, crimson strand onward—until its pulsing had slowed and the crimson glow faded. She dissolved through foresight into memory. When she opened her eyes again, she was back at the scene of the Avans’ attack, except now everything played out in smooth rhythm, cast in an ethereal glow that was soft and golden. The sting of alcohol evaporated from her tongue, displaced by a silky sweetness.

No longer standing at the sidelines, she was now inside someone’s memory of that future day. Whoever it was, he moved with the speed and strength characteristic of an Elition. She felt herself lunge and slash and cut, adrenaline and magic mixing and mashing inside her borrowed body with every person she felled. A streak of long black hair danced across her peripheral vision, and she pivoted as she swung her massive two-handed beast of a sword. Delilah fell to the ground, dead.

Past her, a ring of Siennans had enclosed two men fighting back to back. One of them was Braeden. Blood trickled down the blades of the two Serenity swords he held. His blood. It dripped from his chest, his arms, and from a big gash on the side of his head. He swept out with the swords in wobbling circles, his movements slowing with each breath that he took. As his companion turned to launch a flock of knives at their foes, Terra saw his face.

Jason. It was Jason. He looked as battered as Braeden, but he didn’t stop. He threw knife after knife, each one black and relentless, each one a guaranteed death sentence. But it wasn’t nearly enough. Siennans and Avans continued to gush forward, swarming Jason and Braeden. His supply of throwing knives exhausted, Jason drew his two Crescent swords. He fought like a phantom of death, every slash smooth and efficient.

As Terra watched a group of Avan soldiers circle around them, she wanted to scream out. But her lips were not her own, and they did not obey. Gunfire cracked the screams and shattered the last remnants of hope. Bullets pelleted Braeden and Jason, tearing through their bodies like they were nothing more than tissue paper. Braeden fell. A few seconds passed—deafening, trickling, horrible seconds. Blood poured out of Jason, drenching his clothes, coating his skin, and still he walked forward. A walk was all he could manage. His speed had abandoned him. His strength too. It was only his stubborn resolve that kept him standing.

Until that died too. Jason’s focus was on the shooters, his glare solely for them. His eyes remained dark, but not obsidian. He couldn’t even phase them anymore. Terra’s borrowed body stepped forward, reaching for the knife strapped to his leg. She pushed with everything she had, willing the man to stop, knowing that he would not. She couldn’t stop something that had already happened.

Unless I can
, she thought with stubborn defiance as the man launched the knife at Jason, taking him in the head.

Jason fell. Time froze around Terra. The fight was over, the outcome unthinkable. Jason’s dark, lifeless eyes stared out from a sea of death. She pounded against the invisible prison of time, gaining no ground but not giving up anyway. She felt herself turn to the person beside her. Nemesis looked back at her, her grin feral, her eyes burning red.

Terra choked, the shock and pain of everything she’d seen ejecting her from the memory foresight. She fell to the ground, hitting her shoulder against Braeden and Delilah’s coffee table on the way down.

“What happened?” Braeden asked, his hand on her back.

A hard, hollow pain throbbed in Terra’s chest. “Just give me a minute, please.”

Soft footsteps tapped across the wooden floor, then a door clicked shut. Terra could feel Cameron beside her. His head was against her shoulder.

“Cameron, are you all right?”

“Fine.” He rose, the weight lifting from the back of her shoulder. “That was just…wow. I don’t think there are words to describe it. How do you do it? How do you go around with all that in your head? All those horrible things you know will happen…”

She pushed her hands against the floor and rolled up to her feet. “This is why so many Prophets eventually go insane.”

He turned, his eyes trembling with the anguish of someone who had tasted his first foresight. “You won’t…”

“For a long time, I thought I would. My foresights were always strong,” she said. “But now I think I won’t. At least not if I keep working at it.”

“And the Selpes don’t get their hands on you.”

“Yes.” She looked down at her shaking hands. “I think this bond I have with you and Jason is what keeps me sane, despite the potency of my foresights. You two keep me grounded. I felt it with Synergy. It was like I could do anything—see anything—and still not lose my mind. My heart, on the other hand…” She set her hand over her chest. “It took a hard beating. How much did you see?”

“Everything. The camp being attacked. Braeden. Delilah. Nemesis. Jason.” His voice was hardly above a whisper, as though speaking quietly would prevent it all from coming true. “We have to do something, Terra. It’s not just about the Night Rose Order. It’s also about Jason now.”

“Yes.” She sat on the sofa, relieving the burden on her shaky legs. “I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to see those horrible images. To see Jason lying there… But I have to go back. I have to give him a chance in the future.”

“I’ll go get Braeden and Delilah,” said Cameron, setting his hand down on the back of the sofa to steady himself before walking to the door.

The foresight had hit him as hard as it had her. Terra couldn’t even imagine how difficult this would have been without Cameron there. She would have had to shoulder the burden alone.

“Cameron says you want to try again,” Braeden said.

“I have to try again,” she replied. “We must stop this from happening.”

Delilah filled their glasses with more serum. “You saw Jason.”

“Yes.”

“I think if we can just figure out what led up to that horrible day, then we can stop it,” Delilah said.

Terra looked at Cameron. “If only we knew how to do that.”